Weather News

Major flood study for the Riverina

A year after the 2012 floods in the Riverina, the recovery is far from over and there's a question about what can be realistically done to prevent a repeat.

After record rainfall, the Mirrool Creek was 16 kilometres wide and some Riverina villages went under water.

Griffith City Council general manager Brett Stonestreet says a major flood study is about to start to improve the outcome in future.

"I know in a lesser rainfall type of event, the improvements to stormwater drainage infrastructure at the Yenda and Yoogali villages is important and that's something that we're progressing with now.

"But to answer your question about a flood of that magnitude it is very difficult unless you start talking things like flood levees," said Brett Stonestreet.

Even in areas with levees such as Wagga, millions of dollars will be needed to protect from a one in one hundred year flood and there's no indication of governments providing that money in the short term.